Love, Compassion and the Caring Man
by isandrith
Summary: “Do you love her?" A slight gasp escaped from Carter’s lips. “I care for her just like how any priest should care about anybody.” Tim didn’t believe a single word he said. “Do you love her?" he asked again. doc/claire/carter to be further edited someday
1. Chapter 1

Carter and Tim have been friends for as long as they can remember. Their friendship started when they were still children because they were neighbors, their birthdays even come one after the other, (Tim's on the 19th of Fall and Carter's on the 20th) but mainly because Tim's parents hired Carter to baby-sit for them.

Carter is older than Tim by 10 years but the age difference didn't hamper their friendship at all. Carter was always there for Tim, looking after the boy as if he was Tim's father. This didn't upset Tim's parents at all, rather they were happy that they can depend on Carter to take care of their only son and that Tim has a good role model whenever they're not around. Carter was flattered, so he continued to serve the Trents with a smile on his face.

It was on one fateful Starry Night some six years later that Tim's parents were summoned for medical duty. Carter was called to baby-sit as usual and Tim was old enough to be independent but still young enough to accidentally burn the house. And Carter was supposed to feed the homeless that day! But he couldn't leave young Tim alone… He thought very hard of what he should do, when an idea finally dawned on him: he should bring Tim to the shelters so he can help in feeding the homeless! Yes, that would be a nice setup, he can take care of Tim and the homeless at the same time. He's sure that Tim's parents wouldn't mind. And he was right, they didn't. Rather, they were happy that someone as responsible as Carter would teach Tim about compassion. Carter was flattered of course, so he continued to bring Tim to the shelters during the Starry Night Festivals.

It was on those occasions that they have lengthy discussions about what they want to do with their lives. Tim said that he would probably follow the medical profession since his parents took that path and frankly, he has no passion for anything else other than keeping others healthy and treating their injuries. Carter said that his calling is to take care of people and heal their lost souls by giving them compassion and food for the soul.

"We can be healers then," Tim said. "I would take care of the injured body while you take care of their injured soul."

Carter liked the sound of that and it was no surprise to Tim when Carter became a priest a few years later.

"Quite fitting," he said to Carter one day. "I always knew you'd end up as a priest."

"I thank you. Priesthood has been calling out to me for ages and if it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't hear that call."

Tim chuckled, "you flatter me as always, Carter."

"And you finally became a doctor. I'm glad to know that you pursued that dream."

"I was inspired," was all that Tim could say. "You were a good example for me."

"You're still following your parents' footsteps, you flatter me too." Tim grunted and glared at Carter. "I was telling the truth, my parents flattered you so you can keep on baby-sitting me back then." Carter just smiled.

"So why setup a clinic at Mineral Town?"

"I heard that you were assigned here for your mission. And just like in the past, I would like to help you. We can continue healing the people together, you for their soul and me for their injuries."

Carter smiled again. He didn't know he had such a big influence on Tim. He raised his wineglass and said, "And just like in the past, we're together on another Starry Night Festival. Here's to Mineral Town's healers."

Tim raised his glass and drank his wine.

"Did you know that Mayor Thomas said something about a new farmer for that rundown farm at Mineral Town's eastside?" Carter said after drinking his wine.

"Oh? We should make him feel welcome then."

"I heard the farmer is a girl."

"Really? A female farmer? You must be joking."

"It's true. She will arrive on the first of spring."

"That is a week from now,"

"I know. It would be a shock for her to know that the farm she bought is such a desolate place."

"True, true. Poor girl…"


	2. Chapter 2

On the first of spring, the said farmer girl was staring at her farm, quite confused, irritated, disappointed and feeling cheated. The newspaper ad was so appealing to her that she immediately jumped at the offer. She cursed advertisers, they were the masters of brainwashing. Then she cursed herself for taking the bait.

A plump small man with an unusually big nose beside her, "Hello, are you a tourist? I'm Mayor Thomas" he said, a wide grin plastered on his face.

She shook her head no. "MT Realtor… said I could live a refreshing life – "

"MT Realtor told you that you can live a refreshing life on the farm? You're the new farmer?" she reluctantly nodded her head.

He then laughed out loud, "You've been tricked! It used to be a gorgeous farm, but not anymore since the owner passed away. As you can see, no one's taking care of it. "

"So that explains why…"

"Not many people want to work on the farm now so they decided to make the advertisement more attractive. Every now and then, people who have seen the ad come here. Just like yourself."

The farmer girl thought that this man was implying that she was stupid.

"But as soon as they see the farm, they get disappointed and leave. Just like that. It's been a while since the last one came though… " then he pondered for a moment.

"I see! You believed that cheesy advertisement… Ha ha ha ha!"

That's it, this man is in going down!

She took a hammer from her backpack and whacked the mayor on the head. "That's for adding insult to the injury, fool!" she said

"ow, ow, ow… ouch. Okay, okay, sorry. Please stop hitting me!"

She stopped and looked at the contrite mayor. A huge lump was forming on his head, it's a good thing it didn't bleed. She didn't know if there was a clinic around and she didn't know what to do if this little man bled to death.

"I'm sorry," she said with a sigh. "It's just that things have been rough lately. I quit my job and moved out of my apartment just for this goddess forsaken land… and I've always wanted to have a farm ever since-"

"I see." The mayor cut her speech. "You quit your job and moved out of your apartment. That's too bad."

"I know…" tears were forming in her eyes as she said this. She can't believe that she should've checked the property first before buying it. She felt incredibly stupid at the moment.

"Hey," the mayor said while rubbing the lump on his head. "Why don't you just try and run the farm? The house is livable and actually pretty nice. If you work hard, I think you'll be happy here. As the mayor of this town I will help you as much as I can."

She knew that she was already knee deep in this mess. And with an exasperated sigh she said, "Fine, let's do it!"

The mayor seemed pleased and left her to her thoughts. "good luck," he said.

She looked around the wasteland she would now call her farm and saw a brown puppy wandering around. She called the puppy with a whistle and the mutt ran to her and sat behaved in front of her. "Alright! I'm going to make this farm the best farm in the world!"

The next day was tough. The farmer girl had no idea what to do or how to start. She found herself staring at her wasteland of a farm for the second time and still can't help but feel cheated. The mayor appeared before her with a smile on his face and a bandage on his head. "hello miss…"

"Claire," she said.

"Well, do you want to learn about farming?"

She nodded her head. "I can tell you don't talk much."

Claire just shrugged. "Well, here goes…"

Mayor Thomas explained to her the basics of farming. He also said something about foraging in the forest since she has no crops or livestock yet. When she learned all she needed to know, the mayor said good luck before turning to leave. And as if on cue, a tall burly man appeared with a smile on his face. "I'm Zack, I'm the town shipper. I would come to your farm at 5:00 pm everyday to get what you shipped. This box here is the shipping bin, there's two more, one in your barn and the other in the chicken coop. Oh, and I take holidays off. I want holidays too you know! So remember, 5 pm everyday."

As quickly as he entered and said his probably rehearsed speech, he instantly left. He never even gave her time to react. What a strange man, Claire thought as she walked to her farm and pulled a scythe from her toolbox. She kept on cutting the weeds and didn't stop until it was noon. She figured that weeds are the easiest to get rid off since cutting doesn't need a lot of effort. Her mind was so set in procuring the desired effect that she became dizzy.

"This is more stressing than I thought," she said to herself. Within 30 minutes she felt more stressed than before and in an hour of continuous weed cutting she felt that she was going to faint.

"No," she said to herself stubbornly. "I have to clean up this place… not now… not again…" and with those words, she crumpled to the dirt.

Luckily, someone entered her farm from the south side. He saw the frail farmer girl lying on a heap of weeds looking as if she's dead. The man quickly rushed to her side, looked for signs of life. He saw her shallowly breathing and he quickly rushed her to the clinic.

"Fainting due to stress…" Tim wrote on the new medical record he was making. "other symptoms: hm… weakness and fatigue, swollen gums, what else… dizziness, nausea, swollen tonsils and paleness. Probably anemic and sick with tonsillitis."

"Doctor, the patient is awake," his nurse Elli called from the confinement room. Tim peeked in the confinement room (which is not really a room at all, rather a space divided by blue screens) and saw his patient.

She was sitting on the bed looking at Elli and her probable savior, a man named Gotz and when she saw Tim, her face showed hints of red. "Probably has fever too…" The doctor mused.

"Good afternoon miss…"

"Claire." She gave her hand and he shook it. He saw some bruises on her exposed arm too. Strange, he thought. Just one day of farming and she has those many bruises already.

"Well, Claire… you should learn to take it easy. There's no need to rush farming you know, you should consider working at a pace that suits you. If you rush things, you will faint everyday and if that happens you would die in a year."

Claire's eyes widened at what he said. "Doctor!" Elli reprimanded him.

"Sorry. Anyway, you should consider your health you know. It's important, especially since you're a woman." Then he turned to Gotz and said, "thank you for bringing her here Gotz."

Gotz nodded.

"Claire," Gotz said. "I'll come by your farm everyday to buy honey okay?" Claire nodded then Gotz left the room.

Claire cleared her throat which got the doctor's attention. "yes, what is it?"

"your hand…"

"What about it?"

"It's still holding mine."

"O-oh… sorry." The doctor stammered. It was then that Elli marched out of the confinement room. Tim didn't give her any mind. "so…"

"so…"

"You can't return to your farm today. You'll have to take the whole day off."

"Why not?" she asked angrily.

"Because, you're sick. Sick people don't work you know, didn't your mother ever tell you that?"

"No, she died giving birth to me."

"oh… I'm sorry. "

"Not your fault," she said. "It was the midwife's." The doctor didn't know if she was being serious because a grin was on her face. He tried hard to suppress a grin and failed utterly. He hoped Elli didn't hear what she said. "Um…" he started, "so why did you buy that farm anyway?"

"Well… I've always wanted to have a farm. The city was just so noisy and polluted and absolutely boring. I… I needed to rest… so when I saw this brainwashing ad by MT Realtor, I jumped at the opportunity and instantly bought the farm without even checking out the goods. By the time I realized I was cheated, it was too late since I already quit my job and sold my apartment." She wanted to cry then but the doctor put a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh dear, that's life you know, it's cruel because it plays tricks on us but who knows, maybe your buying the farm will bring you something good in return."

"Thank you. You're nice to me. Mayor Thomas laughed at my face when he realized that I was cheated. I think he thinks I'm stupid."

"No he does not…"

" maybe he does…"

"Oh Claire…"

"Doctor, do you think I'm stupid?"

"No, I think not. I think you want to follow your dream of having your own farm that's why you jumped at the opportunity when it presented itself to you."

Claire smiled at him. "You're really nice. But I just wanted to fulfill this farm dream before I die."

"You're not dying, you're just sick."

Claire smiled at him again, "of course doctor…"

"Tim, Dr. Timothy Trent."

"Tim then. Can I call you Doc too?" he nodded in agreement.

"Say, what do you want to grown on your farm?"

"Oh, whatever crop is in season. But, mainly, I want to raise animals. Chickens and cows…"

"Cows!"

"yes, cows. why?"

"Well, you see…" he stammered again then cleared his throat. "When your cows can produce milk, can you deliver milk here everyday?"

"Sure doctor, anything you say."

"Great! Um… can you also deliver some to Carter? He's the town priest and he has no salary and I would really appreciate it if you give him some. You see, the farm's previous owner passed away and Carter gets his milk from there and the supermarket doesn't sell milk…"

"Of course doctor, anything you say."

"Great! Oh and, Claire…"

"Yes?"

"Please go to sleep. You seem really tired and too frail for farming and you need all the energy you can get." With those words, Claire lay down on the clinic bed and closed her eyes. A trace of a grin can be seen on her face. Tim looked at her and smiled.

He left the confinement room feeling glad to be of service to one as pretty as Claire.

In the next days she would visit the clinic to give the doctor some herbs she found while foraging, then have regular check-ups and then stay a little longer to chat. They would sometimes discuss some health issues, Claire mostly asks questions about headaches. He says she's just working too hard again. Some days she would complain about bone and joint pains and Tim thought that she's not being easy on herself again. He then gave her a negative ion to make her feel like she's walking on clouds. But he wonders why, despite all of that farm work under the sun, she is still pale, sickly and have tons of bruises. The bruises disturb him a lot.


	3. Chapter 3

On the fifteenth of summer, Claire finally has eight milk producing cows. She grinned as she remembered her promise to the doctor about the milk. She would personally deliver the milk to his desk and hope to hear one of his amusing giggles. She also remembered that she promised to give milk to Carter.

The town priest is a nice man, she mused. He takes care of that poor lost soul Cliff and is a father figure for anyone who has no father in Mineral Town. At noon he plays with the only kids in town, and he makes really good snacks. She once tasted his famous strawberry milkshake and was giddy for the whole day. How she wished it was spring so she can give him milk and strawberries to make more of those milkshakes.

She entered the church and saw Cliff sitting on his usual pew and Carter reading the bible on the lectern. "Hey Cliff, hey Carter!" she called out. Cliff raised his head and nodded then went back to feeling sorry for himself; Carter greeted Claire with a warm smile. He saw the bottles of milk she was holding in a basket.

"Ah, finally making milk deliveries." He said.

"Yes, I'm so happy. All of my cows can now produce milk and it's a huge accomplishment for us!"

"That's nice Claire."

"Oh, Carter, I promised Doc that I should give you some milk everyday. Here's the first bottle."

"Oh that doctor! making you promise this must be a hassle for you. I'm sorry Claire, I'm embarrassed with his attitude, and sometimes he doesn't know what he's doing."

"But that's okay Carter, it's my pleasure. I'm glad that I can help you."

"Thank you, Claire. I have no salary so this is really appreciated. Cliff," he called out to him. "Come; let's taste Moonbow Farm's milk."

Carter drank some from the bottle and handed it to Cliff afterwards. Claire was waiting for the verdict. Carter was always smiling so she really can't tell if he's pleased or not. So she looked at Cliff. "It's delicious!" he said and Claire giggled.

"I'm glad you find it delicious. I'll return tomorrow with another bottle. Bye guys!"

Carter waved his hand and Claire left the building, off to deliver the milk to all those who ordered.

A few days later, Claire still delivers milk to carter. Sometimes she stays a little longer to listen to his stories. They're mainly parables about teaching a child about the importance of death, or a twist to a fairy tale or perhaps a scary anecdote about a man bound to a chair by eight pairs of hands. Carter always makes a funny face when he tells that story. He claims he is still scared every time he recalls it. This always brings Claire into peals of laughter, with a stifled chuckle from Cliff's direction. Carter's reaction never gets old.

Carter is awfully fond of Claire. Every time he sees her, a smile appears on his face, but he suspects that something is hidden in Claire's sunny disposition. It seems as if, she wants to talk about something to someone desperately but something is definitely holding her back. He confronted her one time about this.

"Claire, something is amiss. You seem to be always happy but I can sense that you're hiding something."

"Oh, that… well, I feel like I'm dying."

"Dying? How come?"

"It's because I'm tired."

"Of course, farm work is tiring. And you're a woman, so… Have you talked to Tim about this?"

"I have. I've been talking to him regularly about my health and all and you don't have to worry. And, thanks for your concern."

"Well, when you have a problem, don't hesitate to come to me and ask for advice. I'm more than willing to help."

She gave him a light kiss on the cheek which brought an immediate blush to Carter's face. Claire giggled, "Oh Carter, you're silly. You don't have to blush because of a kiss. I have to go," She then waved goodbye and left the church leaving Carter dumbfounded.


	4. Chapter 4

Claire visits the church and the clinic for reasons other than delivering milk. The main reason is that she enjoys her conversations with the doctor and Carter. The other reason is that both men make her feel special, the first one makes her feel that somebody cares for her and the latter makes her feel like a child again.

Similarly, both men are impressed with Claire. Tim is impressed that Claire is concerned about her health. Carter is impressed with Claire's love for life and passion for work.

One rainy Wednesday morning in summer, Claire found the doctor in the church drinking wine with Carter. They seemed to be having a lot of fun talking about something, some girl names keep popping in the conversation and Claire suspected that they were talking about past girlfriends. But they were actually talking about Tim's monster mother.

When the doctor and the priest saw her, they invited her to come over and share the wine with them saying it's good Aja Wine. "One of Duke's finest," Tim said. They invited Cliff over too but he refused; he'd rather be morose. Carter thinks he's just shy but Tim thinks otherwise.

The three had fun talking about whatever, mostly about what happened to Tim's adolescence. "He was just not interested in girls." Carter said matter-of-factly. "No matter how many pretty girls his mom brought with her they didn't spark his interest."

"Yeah, pretty if you're interested in someone who only says uh-huh, stinks and looks like a pig or laughs and looks like a horse."

"Ooohhh, harsh!" Carter said.

"Hey! Don't you dare insult my farm animals!" Claire exclaimed.

"As a matter of fact, only one of them looks decent enough but she has no brain."

"She doesn't look decent Tim, she was beautiful."

"Yeah she was, but she turned me off when she said 'what use does a woman have for a brain? I know I don't have one!' I mean, come on! I imagined that if I were to spend my lifetime with her, our conversations would be based on her asking questions about the most mundane things like 'what is the letter a?' ugh!" he grimaced as he thought more about it.

"Maybe you're just interested in the same sex," Claire said.

"No, I assure you I'm straight. I can prove it to you too."

"Timothy Trent!" Carter reprimanded him, indignation on his face. Tim blushed and hid behind his wineglass. "Sorry Claire, it's the wine speaking." Tim said turning more crimson by the moment. Claire just giggled and forgave Tim with a pat on the head. "Tell me more about those girls, she said."

"Well, no matter how much I told my mom to stop bringing girls to our home, she seems to have an endless supply of acquaintances with 'supposedly' pretty single daughters to pair up with me. I'm guessing most of her acquaintances were her patients."

"Oh, oh! Don't forget what you always do whenever your mom brings home a girl. Carter cut in.

Tim blushed more, "I tell them that I have a lonely friend who is in dire need of female companionship and I send them over to Carter."

"And you know what, those girls always come. Whenever I see a girl on my doorstep and they say something like, 'hi! Your friend sent me - ' I always cut their speech and say 'let me guess, he told you he has a lonely friend who is in dire need of female companionship' and then she nods and I say ' I'm sorry dear. He played you for a fool. One day he's gonna get his due and will find a girl who will reject him and play with his heart. But that's not you, and revenge does not befit a nice girl like yourself. So in the meantime, forgive him, forget about him and don't stop your quest for true love. ' "

Tim coughed at this. "Carter, you're making me look bad. "

" You brought it upon yourself. "

Claire giggled more. "well doc, have you met this girl that Carter prophesied? The one that will play with your heart?"

"Thank the goddess no," he answered sighing.

"By the way Tim, why do you always reject the girls your mom shows you? Surely, rejecting them because of the way they look is superficial. "

A wistful smile appeared on the doctor's face and he sighed. "I believe that I can find true love on my own. I don't need my mom's help for that, she'll just mess things up. And I believe my true love is here, somewhere…" he stirred the remaining wine in his glass and stared at it for a long time. It was a good thing that he stared at the wine in his glass, because if he looked at his companion's faces, he probably wouldn't know how to react.

Carter broke the awkward silence by clearing his throat. "Claire, how is your farm? " He asked the exhausted question.

"M-my cows are doing well actually. In a few days, Gotz will be done with my barn upgrades and I'd buy seven more cows and a sheep from Barley. Then when I have enough money, i'm gonna buy a cheese maker and enjoy some cheese and wine during rainy days in my home. "

"What about the chores? " Tim asked.

"It could be better. I wish the cows didn't poo as much, it's so hard to clean dung! But it' s worth it!"

"I'm glad you have something to be passionate about. " Tim smiled at her.

"Well, you have something you're passionate about too. You like taking care of people and you'd go out of your way just to ensure their health. For example you accompanied Lilia during the cooking festival because you were worried that something bad might happen to her. And no matter how ridiculous Jeff's Tuesday-Tummy-ache is, you still entertain him because you believe that it's not just your duty as a doctor to respond for his medical needs but because someone needs your help and you actually want to help. I admire the compassion you give to your patients."

Tim blushed a deeper shade of red and Carter laughed out loud. "Thank you Claire," Tim said. "You do know how to make me happy, and thanks for the observation with Lilia. I do get out of my way to help her because she really needs it but your observation with Jeff is an exaggeration. There's more to Jeff's-Tuesday-tummy-ache than meets the eye, but still, thank you."

"Basically, it's like this," Carter started to explain. "Jeff does go to the clinic because of tummy-aches but he never pays; in exchange for that, Tim gets bread for free. But Elli pays Tim's bills anyway and then Jeff will return to the clinic the following week to return what Elli paid. On the surface, Jeff would look like he's paying for Tim's services and Tim would look like he's paying for the bread but it's just 100G, the same 100G, that's been passing on from doctor to grocer to doctor. Do you get what I mean?"

"Yes but, why bother?" she asked Tim.

"It's just fun that way, albeit kind of messed-up in a sense. But Jeff and I are used to it and it's no big deal to us." he answered.

Claire rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Listen, it stopped raining, so if you drunks don't mind, I still have a farm to return to. I had fun talking to you guys," She waved goodbye and went out of the church. When she left, Carter suddenly became serious. "You were flirting with her," he accused Tim.

"I was not!"

"I can tell..."

"You were making me look bad!"

"I did not!"

"You have a crush on her!"

"No, you have a crush on her!"

Cliff looked at the direction of the bantering friends, rolled his eyes and left the church to look for Ann. "Drunks," he muttered.

* * *

There you go! I had so much fun writing this chapter. I thought that if Carter and Tim have always been good friends they would probably talk about girls and they would accuse each other of something. I also thought that Tim probably has high standards so he gets incredibly picky with girls.


	5. Chapter 5

Gotz finally finished upgrading the barn. He went out of the barn and decided to tell Claire the good news when he saw her lying beside a huge irregular boulder clutching a silver hammer, her eyes shut tight, her breathing shallow and she is perhaps delirious.

"Claire!" he shouted, but the girl didn't stir at the sound of her name. Gotz ran to her side to pick her up and found out that her body felt really hot, sweat showing on her face and her teeth chattering. "Claire!" he shouted again while shaking her shoulder. She reacted this time by clutching her hammer tighter. A tiny light of hope sprang into Gotz's mind, _'she's still conscious...'_ he thought.

"Wait here, I'll get you to the clinic."Gotz rushed to Claire's house and came out a minute later with a blanket in his hands. He wrapped Claire in the blanket and carried her as if she was a sleeping baby. He rushed to the clinic like a madman.

"Open up!" he shouted. Elli opened the door to see Gotz carrying a wrapped-up Claire. "In here, quick!" They rushed Claire to the confinement room and when Tim saw them pass him by, both people looking flustered, he dropped his buttered toast in his hands and immediately sprang to action.

"Elli, get the usual stuff: thermometer, dextrose, syringe, wash basins -"

"Yes doctor!" Elli ran to the nearest table to get the medical tools the doctor ordered her to get.

"Thanks for bringing her here Gotz, we'll take it from here." Tim said to Gotz as he pulled out a pair of medical gloves from his right pocket and put it on his hands. Gotz nodded, went out of the confinement room and seated himself in the lobby.

Tim pulled out a tiny LED flashlight from his left lab pocket, turned it on and focused it on Claire's eyes only to find her eyes roll upwards. Elli put the thermometer under Claire's tongue and she stripped Claire's clothes off, leaving only the necessities. She dressed Claire up in a medical gown while the doctor did what was necessary. He checked her pulse and found out that she was palpitating. "She's got the chills. " Doctor stated.

"Impossible! At this weather?"

"I know Elli, I know." he looked grim as he said this.

Claire woke up with the grandmother of all head-aches. She found herself staring at a white ceiling and she can hear birds singing.

"I'm finally dead…" she said, her voice sounding sad.

"You're not. You're still in my clinic. You're still sick and you're not telling me why you still keep on working despite your condition."

Claire was startled at the voice. She looked to her right and saw the doctor sitting on an armchair, his eyes very red. A side table was placed beside him and on it is a buttered toast and a mug of steaming coffee. The food looked untouched and seemed as if it had been there for days. Thick books were stacked on the floor near his feet. His arms were folded across his chest, his left ankle on top of his right knee, his jet black hair is in an unusual state (it was messy as opposed to its usually well-combed state), there's a stupid-looking reflector on his head, his stethoscope is dangling dangerously on his neck and a very angry glare coming from his tired, red eyes.

"How... long... have I... been here?" she asked him weakly. She was surprised to find herself struggling to speak. She touched her jaw and opened and closed her mouth to practice its movement. Tim gave her a few moments to practice her jaw movements, then he answered, "two days."

"But my animals! "

"They're taken care of by the Harvest Sprites for a week. Your farm is still functioning despite your two-day down time. "

Claire tried to sit up only to be reprimanded. "You're not yet allowed to sit up. " Tim said rather harshly. Claire nodded and reclined on the bed. This was the first time she heard and saw the doctor look like this and it hurt her to see him looking like that. She tried to suppress a tear, but it dropped down her left cheek, away from his line of sight.

"Claire, why is it that despite all of our talks about fainting, and bruises and health, that you're still anemic, you still pass out and you're still covered in bruises?" he said in a steady stream of words, not even giving her a chance to speak. "Are you ignoring all of my medical advices? Were you just wasting my time by pretending that you are actually interested in health? Do you have any idea how many times you've fainted in the past two seasons? Seven times Claire, your eighth one was two days ago. Are you wondering if it's normal? No, it's not. You're actually sicker than you lead me to believe."

Claire felt absolutely bad; his accusations pierced her soul. She can't describe the tightening pain that she feels in her heart, but maybe that's just the palpitations. Then why does she feel unusually sad? She felt like crying torrents but she can't show it to him. She can't show him how weak she really is, but he probably already knows that. She decided to ignore him by turning to face the wall.

However, Tim proved to be stubborn.

"Fill me in Claire. Why is it that you always ask me how to treat swollen or bleeding gums despite the fact that you know I'm not a dentist?'' No answer came from Claire.

By this time, Tim's voice was rising by the moment. Elli who was entertaining a visiting Gotz stopped their conversation and can't help but listen.

"Do you know what else is strange, Claire? Why you're interested in what will happen to a person if his spleen AND liver is enlarged. That's such a dead giveaway you know. " Still no answer.

"What else, oh, complaints about bone pain, joint pain, headaches, nausea, a tonsillitis that seems to be there forever and you still don't want it removed. Not to mention anemia, unusual weight loss, bruises in places that your tools probably won't hurt or reach. And what is the most telltale sign? Pinprick bleeds. Dozens of them. "

It took a moment for Elli to consider all of the symptoms the doctor said. But somehow, the name of the sickness seemed to escape her. There was another awkward silence but Gotz and Elli can feel the tension emanating from the confinement room. There was still no answer coming from Claire.

"You know what, my medical license might be revoked if you don't tell me what's wrong NOW!" Tim continued. He waited for Claire's answer but no response came again. He stood up from his stool and tried to touch Claire's shoulder to ask her nicely to tell him what's wrong. He wanted to tell her that everything will be alright and that he'll help her in anyway he can if only she'd trust him.

He put a hand on her shoulder and was about to say all that was in his heart when his hand was slapped by Claire. "Fine! If you don't want to tell me, it's fine! If - if I hadn't known any better, I say you have leukemia!" he shouted. This brought a gasp from all of the people in the clinic. The doctor stormed out of the confinement room only to find Elli leaning on to Gotz for support. Her eyes were saying "this cannot be!" while her right hand is partially covering her open mouth. Gotz 's hand seemed to be steadying Elli but his brows were tied in a knot, unable to comprehend what the doctor meant by what he said.

Tim looked at them, looking hurt and angry, then he rushed to the second floor without saying a word. He slammed his door, locked it and went straight to bed despite the fact that it was 8 in the morning.


	6. Chapter 6

Elli, caring girl that she is, immediately went to Claire's side the moment she heard the doctor slam his bedroom door. "Claire…" she said as she sat on the bed. Claire turned her head to see Elli sitting beside her. She sat up and hugged Elli then tears ran down her face. "There, there Claire. The doctor's just upset. he's been beside you for the last two days and," Elli hesitated. "He saw some rather convincing symptoms Claire… tell me they're not true." Claire shook her head, but Elli didn't know if Claire was shaking her head to answer Elli's questions or she was thinking of something else.

"Elli, " Gotz said as he entered the confinement room. "I won't tell anybody about what happened here today. "

"Thanks Gotz. "

"Claire's like a daughter to me. If my daughter was still alive, she'd probably be the same age as Claire. I'll try to look after her when I can." he went to Claire's side and patted her head. "Get well soon Claire." He nodded his goodbye to the girls and left the clinic.

"Listen," Elli said to Claire. "The doctor just wants to keep you here for… for… actually, you can get out of the clinic anytime you want." She peeled the dextrose from Claire's right hand. Claire winced a little from the pain and Elli put a bandage on that hand. "But I suggest you stay here for breakfast though and maybe rest a little more. What do you want to eat?"

"Can I have some waffles? "

Elli frowned. "I don't have a waffle maker, but I can make pancakes. Would that be ok?" Claire nodded her consent. Elli returned a few moments later with a platter of newly cooked pancakes and fruit juice. "The doctor seems to have an abundance of fruit juice in his ref, I don't think he would mind if I gave you some. He made this himself, you know. Is it delicious?" Claire nodded her head yes. "I'm glad you think it is so. Claire, if you don't mind, I have to put back the chair and the table back at the lobby."

"I don't mind at all, Elli. Thanks for the meal. "

Yyou're welcome," she smiled sweetly. "Claire, I have a question, do you think that the doctor is attractive?" Claire was taken aback by this unexpected question from Elli. "Never mind, you don't have to answer that." and with that, Elli put the misplaced furniture from the confinement room and left Claire alone with her thoughts.

That night, Tim asked Elli to accompany him in taking a blood sample from Claire. "I need it to confirm if she indeed has leukemia."

"But doctor! You have no consent from her, you can't just take her blood samples without her knowing it."

"Elli, it's for her own good."

"But doctor, she didn't ask for it."

"She wouldn't mind if she doesn't know."

"It feels wrong..."

"Elli, what if a person you know might have a sickness and that you, as a nurse, might be able to help her. But this person you know wouldn't admit having that disease because of reasons unknown. Would you wait until she tells you what her sickness is when it's already too late, or would you find it out through whatever means possible so that you can help her before it's too late? "

"I, I would choose the second option…"

"Good, come with me then."

Elli prepared the tools needed for a blood sampling. She cleaned her hands methodically and was about to make a tourniquet when for some strange reason, Claire woke up. "Doctor? What are you doing here? " she asked rather shakily.

"Nothing to worry about Claire, we just need-"

"No! I don't like this at all!"

"Listen up Claire, this is for your own good."

She shook her head and jumped off the bed. She ran to the open window and stood there shaking. The nurse and the doctor were slowly advancing towards her, he with a nasty looking needle and she with – with whatever it is that she was holding.

"Don't be silly Claire," he said. "It's for your own good." The way he acted, the way he spoke and the setting convinced Claire that Timothy Trent was indeed a mad doctor and that she was his unfortunate victim. Claire, thinking sadly that she is stuck in a movie cliché, screamed her lungs out.

"Claire stop shouting! We're not gonna hurt you!" he screamed while cursing his lucky stars.

Claire jumped off the clinic window while Tim shouted her name and Elli gasped loudly. Fortunately for Claire, the confinement room was at the ground floor so she was basically unscathed. She ran to the church looking for Carter in this time of need.

Carter was awakened by the loud rapping at the door. "Who could that be at this hour?" he said as he took a flashlight from his night table. _It's rather unusual too_, he thought. The knock sounded very hurried, and loud and it was the kind that would bruise knuckles.

Carter opened the church door only to see Claire barefoot and dressed in a medical gown. "Claire!" he exclaimed. "Come in, come in! what happened?" he led her to the nearest pew and then ran his fingers through her long silky hair.

"It was the doctor, he did something horrible…"

"Horrible!?" Carter's face flushed. Whatever in the world is going on through Tim's mind? Did he prove his manliness to her as a way of getting back at her when she hinted at his sexuality? Claire trusted him so much and he'd repay that trust by doing something horrible... He shuddered at the thought of whatever Claire meant by "horrible".

"The noises they made woke me up in the middle of the night. I saw them wearing white masks and he had this huge syringe with a fat needle and she was holding something that I don't know and there were too many shiny metal things lined up in front of them and they were walking slowly towards me and he looked really mad… and those eyes! Those red eyes!"

"Oh dear," Carter said. He was actually thinking of something worse but he was glad that what happened in reality was actually different, and quite... well, it was something that didn't need to be fussed about.

Claire shuddered and Carter put an arm around her. "I know that he was just concerned about my health because I fainted for… the 8th time in two seasons, but it's not reason enough for him to turn me into a guinea pig!"

Carter shook his head and clicked his tongue in the process. "I'm sure that wasn't his intention."

"It seemed like it!"

Carter studied Claire in the dimly lit church. She looked like she escaped from a harrowing situation. He didn't believe that what happened was something to be worried about; he found her rather naive. Somehow, he also found that naivete rather cute. But there was something more beneath that, there was a hidden hurt that Claire did not want to be known.

"Claire, I'm also wondering about the same thing. Why do you faint a lot?"

"It's complicated…"

"I wouldn't tell anybody Claire, priest's honor."

Claire looked at him, an eyebrow raised and head tilted to the right. "But Carter, we're not in the process of confession, how do I know that you really wouldn't tell anybody?"

"Because…"

"Because?"

"Because I care about you Claire."

"Carter, you care about everybody. It's your job."

"No, it's different for every person. You needed someone to take good care of you Claire and I'm here to do that. I'm more than willing to take care of you and I'll always be here in your time of need."

Claire wasn't sure about what Carter just said (Carter wasn't sure about what he meant either), but it did lift her spirits. She put her head on Carter's shoulder and giggled. "Thanks Carter, you're so good to me."

"You're welcome," he said, giving her a light kiss on the forehead. It was then that the church doors suddenly opened.

"Claire!" somebody exclaimed. At the door was a repentant doctor, but that look of begging for forgiveness, suddenly turned into shock, confusion and extreme hurt. His mouth was open when Claire and Carter turned to his direction. For the first time in his life, Tim felt like he was intruding on something special.

"I-I'm sorry!" he shouted, though what he was sorry for no one could tell as he suddenly bolted from his current position and ran to the direction of the clinic.

"Tim!" Claire exclaimed as she stood up. "It's not what you think!" she shouted as she ran to the clinic. Tim entered the clinic, slamming the door then locking it afterward. Claire reached the clinic door, knocking and calling out his name. "Tim, please… open the door…" but it was no use. No matter how hard she tried, the clinic door wouldn't open.

Claire felt her knees buckle beneath her and hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't know why she felt bad when Tim saw her in that intimate moment with Carter. All she knows is that she has to explain herself to him, and she felt really hurt because he didn't even give her a chance.

She was in that state when Carter reached her. "Claire, you should go home now. I'll talk to him tomorrow," he said as he helped her up.

"Thanks Carter…" she slowly made her way to her farm, not minding the cold cobblestones on her bare feet.

* * *

Author's note: I'm on fire. I feel like I can finish this story today. And I probably will.


	7. Chapter 7

Carter went to the clinic that morning to confront Tim about what happened last night.

"The doctor's in a foul mood," Elli told him. "And even I can't get to him. Carter, you're his friend, maybe he'll listen to you."

"Elli, what exactly happened last night?"

"Well, you see…" Elli explained last nights events to him in proper order. "Were we wrong Carter?"

"Not exactly. Tim is just… confused. I'm sorry he had to drag you into this Elli."

"It's okay Carter, I'm used to it by now." Carter nodded politely towards Elli and headed to Tim's desk.

"Tim, I think you should've asked permission from Claire first if you wanted to get her blood sample. You frightened her last night you know, she said something about red eyes, you turning her into a guinea pig and said that it was horrible. I guess she felt that you invaded her personal space and she just defended herself by jumping off the window. You know, if she wanted you to know anything, she'd tell you in her own time."

Tim was too full of pride to admit that he violated Claire's personal space and did the wrong approach in confronting her about her possible sickness. In order to protect that pride, he asked Carter this simple question. "Do you love her?"

A slight gasp escaped from Carter's lips. "I care for her just like how any priest should care about anybody."

Tim didn't believe a single word he said. "Do you love her?" he asked again.

"That's not what we're talking about, the topic at hand is that you did the wrong approach in confronting a patient."

"Do you love her?"

"Stop being so childish and swallow your foolish pride and just apologize to Claire!"

"Why are you avoiding the question?"

"Because it's foolish!"

Tim stood from his seat and stared Carter straight in the eye. "It's easy to fall in love with Claire!" he shouted, not caring a bit if anybody else heard him or not. "She's pretty, she'd make you feel important, give you things, stay awhile to chat with you, she's single, hardworking… And you!" He pointed his index finger towards Carter. "You're single, still pretty young and though I know priests aren't allowed to marry, no one can stop them from falling in love!"

"You're insane!"

"Yes! Yes! I'm insane! I don't know why and how it happened, but I know that I am insane!" he lifted a closed fist and was trying his best not to punch Carter in the face. But he attained some sense and put it down. "If you admit here and now that you love Claire, I – I would completely back off and – and my relationship with her would be strictly between a doctor and his patient."

"Stop acting as if you're her jealous boyfriend Tim."

Tim just glared at him. "Then stop acting as if she's you're girlfriend."

"I'm not acting as if she's my girlfriend. I was just there for her because she needed someone to take care of her."

"I was taking care of her!"

"You were not. You scared her. I know she got scared for the wrong reasons but I guess that's just her way of defending herself."

"From what?"

"From you."

"What did I do?"

"You hurt her."

"I will never hurt her!"

"Maybe not physically, but you did something yesterday that hurt her feelings. You sounded as if you accused her that she lead you to believe that her health was good when it was in fact worse. Why did you hurt her?"

"I did not hurt her."

"You accused her of something bad. You did hurt her."

"I did not hurt her. I was angry because she hid her sickness from me and I have every right to know about her health."

"Because you're her doctor?"

"No! Because I care about her."

"You don't Tim. You don't even know how to care."

"How dare you accuse me!"

"I know you. I knew you ever since you were a kid and I know that all you care about is yourself. You're mad at me because you think that I'm taking away a potential bride from you and you're mad at me because she ran to me instead of you in her time of need. I also know that you're venting out all of that anger unto me because you couldn't say sorry to her."

"Enough Carter!" Tim shouted.

"Why should I shut up Tim? Is it because I hit a tender spot? Or is it because of something else? Tell me, do you love her?"

"Do you?"

"Why did you return that question?"

"I asked you that question first. It's not about me apologizing for what I did or how she reacted. It's about you and your feelings for her. I'll ask you again Carter, do you love her?"

"Why do you keep on asking that? That's not what I came here for."

"I know what you came here for and what you said about what happened last night is mentally noted. But I want to know if you really love her."

"Why can't you answer when I asked you that?" Carter said, sounding exasperated as the conversation dragged on.

"Why didn't you answer first?"

Carter was about to loose patience and strangle Tim to death when Elli interrupted them by saying that Claire is at the door, delivering the daily milk. "Should I let her in or should I take the milk myself?"

"Just get the milk Elli," Tim said exasperatedly while glaring at Carter. The men didn't move until they heard the door close. They immediately looked at the window and saw Claire walking towards the church's direction.

"She's probably waiting for you at the church," Tim said to Carter. He went back to reading some papers littered on his desk and completely ignored Carter. Carter shook his head, clicking his tongue as he left the clinic and headed towards the church.


	8. Chapter 8

Claire was at the church, talking to Cliff about his sad life. Carter entered the church and smiled when he saw Cliff finally having someone to talk to.

"Hello Claire, how's everything today?" he asked as he sat behind Cliff's usual pew.

"Things look… grim," she said with a sigh.

"And why is that?"

"It's the doctor, he's acting strange lately."

"How strange?"Cliff asked.

"For one, he looked like a mad scientist determined to turn me into a guinea pig last night." She told the rest of the story to Cliff including the part about her walking barefoot from the church to her farm in a medical gown. Cliff cocked his head a little to the left and stared at Claire incredulously. He is definitely thinking of something but his only comment was, "blonde moment." Luckily, Claire didn't hear what he said. "He's just concerned about you Claire."

"Yeah, we already stated that," she said.

"He just shows his concern differently that's all." Carter said.

"How?" she asked.

"Well, you see, it's like this. When Tim was growing up, his parents were never around. They were always on duty somewhere, saving lives here and there. Because of this, he felt like he was an ignored little kid.

"Since I was his neighbor, his parents always called me to baby-sit little Timmy for them. He felt that nobody cared for him other than me; he told me that himself. He was just six then so things like that isn't a big deal. He said that he is so angry with his parents that he considers me as his father. I told him to not be angry with his parents; they're just doing their job after all. I tried to convince him into channeling all of that anger into caring for needy by bringing him to Homeless Shelters during Starry Night Festivals. Somehow, it worked. Bit by bit he understood his parents' duty and bit by bit his anger dissipated.

"He became so engrossed in healing the physical body, that he has no time to socialize and learn how to properly deal with people. You can still see it for yourself, you know that he's locked up in that clinic of his unless it's a Wednesday or whenever Lilia needs to go to a festival.

"He only takes care of people older than him and frankly, he is not that interested in being friends with them. Then you come along, a girl in his same age bracket, wanting to be taken care of, showing interest in medicine, sincerely reward his hard work for you with one of your sweet smiles…" he trailed off, then cleared his throat.

"The point is, Tim has never completely cared for anybody so he doesn't know how to deal with people. He is, after all, a social loser-"

Cliff and Claire giggled at this.

"Ahem," Carter cleared his throat again. "He is also full of pride, and probably won't admit to you that he's wrong and childish despite that mature appearance and it would probably be up to you to patch things up with him."

A smile appeared on Claire's face and she stood up from Cliff's pew and thanked Carter for the story. "I have to go and patch things up with him. I know he only meant well, yet I took things the wrong way… Goodbye Carter, Cliff." She left the church with a spring in her steps.

"If I hadn't known better, I think she's – "

"I think so too, Cliff." Carter said as he sadly watch Claire leave.

Claire entered the clinic looking rather happy when she saw Elli's sad face. "Claire, something is wrong with the doctor. He wouldn't talk to anybody, not even to me. He's been sulking in his office for the hole day, even refusing to eat. And I know how obsessed he is with health! You're his... friend… Claire, please, knock some sense into him." She nodded and went to the doctor's office.

She saw the doctor look incredibly forlorn, his left arm on the table, his head resting on his left hand while his right hand was holding some medical records. He was reading them rather lazily and seemed like he would throw it any moment now. He kept sighing too.

"Doc," she said. Her voice startled him, he quickly dropped what he was reading and looked at Claire.

"Claire, it's you!"

"Yes, it's me doctor." She sat across his desk and she saw what he was reading. It was an article on bone marrows.

"Tim," she said. "What's the problem?"

"I haven't been treating my patients well. I wonder why they don't open up to me. Despite Jeff and Lilia's weekly schedule, and we see each other pretty frequently, they only think of me as a doctor, not as a human being. And you, I… I actually scared you last night didn't I?"

"That's absurd! We actually look at you as a human being, a kind and caring human being who goes out of his way to help others. I've already told you that before, and I was being sincere, but you just laughed at my face."

"I'm really sorry about that Claire," he said, taking her hand into his and clenching it really tight. "I didn't mean-"

"Shh," Claire said putting a finger on his mouth. "You don't have to worry about that doctor, all you have to do is open your heart." For the first time in that whole day, the doctor smiled. He felt that he was forgiven for that crazy antic he did the night before and he looked at it as a chance to make amends with Claire.

"Thank you Claire, you inspire me! From now on I'll try to be a nicer guy for you and consider my patients' feelings too." She smiled sweetly at his words.

"Friends?" she asked.

"friends…" he said rather forlornly.

"Brighten up will you," she said, and so he did, just because she said so.

"Say doc!"

"Hmn?"

"What were you supposed to do last night anyway? "

"I wanted to take a blood sample."

Claire shuddered at the thought. "W-what for?"

"I have to confirm my suspicions. Please Claire? I cannot rest easily until I know for sure if you are sick or not. I need to know because…"

"Because? "

"Because, it just means so much to me."

"Because you have to save your license…"

"No! no, I mean partly yes but that's not my real reason. Please Claire, just let me take a blood sample, it won't hurt you, I promise."

"Of course doctor, anything you say." She said rather sadly.

After taking the sample, Claire left the clinic, this time without a spring in her steps. Tim immediately went to his lab and put Claire's blood sample under the scrutiny of a microscope.

"Just as I thought, more white than red." His suspicions were correct, she did have leukemia. He further used that sample and ran it under several tests. He clenched his fists when he read the results. It was Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, the kind that mostly appear in adults The future suddenly looked darker.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, Claire woke up because someone was knocking on her door. She looked at the grandfather clock across her room and noticed the time. "Six in the morning... such an early visitor. " She stood up from her bed, still dressed in her blue striped pajamas and whistled for her dog to come. She patted its head and went to the door.

Tim stood outside her door looking very sad. Claire braced herself for another medical lynching, but none came.

"Could you let me in?" he asked. His voice sounded as if the world collapsed around him. She flinched again. This is what she dreaded all along; that she got too close to somebody and that they'd worry about her and they'd confront her about it. She moved to Mineral Town because nobody knows her there, nobody would get attached and nobody would mourn her passing.

"Claire?" she figured that with the way he looks, he probably figured out her secret. And why not? He is a doctor after all.

"Please come in, doctor. I'm sorry I didn't have the time to clean up, I wasn't expecting you, so... just please wait in the living room." She ushered him to sit on her sofa and she prepared a cup of warm milk for him. Her dog bounded happily to her but she ignored it. "Here doc, I don't have coffee, so I hope this would do." He smiled and accepted the warm milk, she took it as a good sign. Little did she know that he is a sucker for milk recipes...

"Doc, if you don't mind, can I put on some decent clothes?"

"Go ahead"

She returned a few minutes later wearing her usual overalls, and the usual checkered blouse. "What brings you here?"

"Claire, how long have you had leukemia?"

"almost a year, I think."

"Why didn't you take chemotherapy procedures? "

"I... I didn't have the money then."

"Well, now that you have the money. Why did you still not take the procedures?"

"I didn't have the time. I still have to take care of my animals."

The doctor widened his eyes as if to say "that's a load of bull crap!" but he kept quiet anyway. "It seems like you're slowly killing yourself. " he said sadly. "Claire, some leukemia patients survive you know, if they undergo the proper therapies and all..."

"Doctor, what's the probability of my surviving this thing?"

Tim couldn't bring himself to answer, "you wouldn't like it," was all that he said.

"I didn't like it when my city doctor told me I have only three more years to live."

Tim clenched his fists on his pants, Claire saw it and thought that the doctor is in an inner turmoil. "Just tell me doctor, what is my survival rate?"

"40, but Claire-"

"I was given this sickness for a reason, I believe. You see, I think my time is drawing near and I have to make the best out of everything. I am doing what I've always wanted to do, I am quite happy too… but I do know that I have to leave this world soon because that's what's supposed to happen. It's my fate."

"But I cannot sit idly knowing that you are dying and knowing that I can help prevent it. You have a 40 chance of survival and it's bigger than the 10 other patients have. Please Claire, get a chemotherapy while it's not too late. We can still save your life! "

"Tim, I am prepared to meet the goddess, " she said it calmly and with a smile on her face that all of that frustration in him broke his spirit that he just cried. It was the first time that Claire saw a crying man, and one so dear to her too. She put a hand on his shoulder and told him "there, there…"

"Do you think that your situation is hopeless? Why are you giving up on life Claire? You're still too young to die, you still have more dreams to attain. You can still have children, grandchildren…"

"Do you pity me because I'm dying?"

"No, I don't pity you at all, I want you to live! why would you give that blessing up?"

"Tim, I'm not giving that blessing up. I'm just prepared to meet my maker."

"Claire… what about the future?" he wiped his eyes and a blush appeared on his face.

"To be honest, I really don't care. " Tim clenched his fists harder this time.

"You don't? you don't care at all that, that you'll leave behind your loved ones and those who love you?"

She hid her eyes from him with her bangs so that he can't see the tears forming in her eyes. "All those who love me are dead."

"I'm not dead yet! " He shouted. Realizing what he just said, he suddenly stood from the sofa and bolted right out of the door.

"Tim…" she whispered to thin air as tears rolled down her face.


	10. Chapter 10

Claire was stunned to hear the doctor's words. Did he mean it? Did he subtly say he loved her? why does he always run away when his feelings are confronted?

With only 3 more years to live, Claire can't afford to fall in love. But she did anyway.

She went to the church to talk to Carter. Luckily Cliff was off somewhere, maybe on a date with Ann. "Carter, " she said as she walked to the altar.

"Claire? What happened?" he said as he saw the tears running down her face. Carter ran to her side and hugged her. Claire hugged him tightly and she let all of her feelings out. She cried loudly and she didn't know when to stop. Carter ran his fingers through her hair and this made her tears subside a little. Feeling more comfortable, Claire told him vaguely about her troubles.

"I've gotten myself into a fine mess. All I wanted to do was have a peaceful life in my farm. I just wanted to raise animals and grow crops at peace! I mean, I can socialize occasionally but I…" she sobbed again.

"Carter, it's so unexpected! I didn't plan for this at all, I'm so confused…" she buried her face deeper into Carter's cassock. "I'm so confused…"

Carter kissed her forehead to stop her crying. "What should I do? Should I give up? Should I move on? Should I wait and accept my fate? Should I go to my destiny? Help me, Carter!"

Carter wiped the tears on her face and shushed her. "Claire…" She looked at him at softened her sobbing.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time," she said. Carter shook his head. "I told you I'll always be here for you." Claire smiled because she knows that Carter meant what he said but something unexpected happened, Carter kissed her! He always does that of course, but it's usually on the forehead like how a dad would kiss his little girl goodnight, but this is different!

The shock was too great for Claire to pull herself away from Carter's lips. When he moved to look at Claire, she stood there looking rigid and quite confused. It was then that they felt something ominous in the church. They looked at the direction of the church door and saw Tim watching them, his hands in his pockets and an unreadable expression on his face. They have no idea how long he's been standing there, he probably saw and heard everything!

And just as quietly as he came, Tim left the church without saying anything.

It was another shocking moment for Claire, _Tim saw_! She thought. Does she have to explain herself to him again? She instead looked at Carter and wondered why he would do such a thing. Carter's head was down, his eyes closed and his eyebrows furrowed as if he's in deep contemplation. She backed away from Carter step by step and when she realized that he will not run after her, she ran to the clinic only to find it locked.


	11. Chapter 11

Claire made a beeline to the doctor's desk the next day. He was busy writing something on a clipboard, but he knows that she's there. She placed the daily milk bottle on his desk with an unusual force. This made him stop whatever it is that he was doing and then looked at her indifferently. "So, why are we here today?" he said sounding like a businessman, much like the way he treats his other patients. Claire wondered what happened to "I'll be a nicer guy for you" ?

"I brought your daily milk!"

"You could've left it with Elli."

"I ALWAYS GIVE THE MILK TO YOU."

"Thank you. If you're not here for a check-up, you may leave. I'm busy."

"Oh screw you! Stop being so childish!"

"I am not being childish. You're the one who's acting like that, barging in here angry and picking up a fight with the local doctor. Now, unless you want to have a check-up, which I seriously doubt seeing as you only want to die, that's the only time I would talk to you. Now if you don't mind - "

SMACK! Claire slapped the doctor's face. A red trace of her hand was seen on his cheek. "Jeff has no tummy-aches today, Lilia wouldn't come over, Ellen is a special case and today is Thursday. Nobody comes at the clinic other than me. You've got all the time in the world to talk to me."

Doctor cleared his throat and gave her an angry glare. "What do you want!" he exclaimed.

"I want to talk to you!"

"About what? Get straight to the point, I don't have all the time in the world."

"Why are you acting so childish?"

"I told you – "

"You're different." she said looking sadly. "You suddenly act different towards me. I missed talking to you about almost everything. I missed laughing with you and I miss the times you would entertain me with your stories when I'm lying on your clinic bed. Why would you suddenly act so… different? So cold…"

Tim gave out a sigh. "I'm just treating you like how a doctor should treat his patient." She looked at him and wondered if he will add something more. He winced as he realized that Carter said something similar.

"Tim…"

He ignored her and returned to writing. Clearly, he doesn't want to talk.

"Tim! You're impossible to deal with! You're always full of your foolish selfish pride that you don't have the time to listen to me and you do not care if you hurt others. It hurts Tim, to be ignored by you! And I've always thought that you are a compassionate man…" She left the clinic leaving Tim clutching his pen and feeling worse.

Tim went to the church that afternoon. He was doing something he's never done before, confront Carter. He hoped that Cliff wasn't there to listen in their conversation. Thank the goddess he was not.

Carter saw Tim walking towards him and he braced himself for whatever the younger man would say or do.

"You won," Tim said.

"What?"

"She doesn't love me at all and I hurt her. I always hurt her, I don't want to but I ended up doing it anyway. She came by this morning to tell me that I hurt her again. She never even said goodbye…"

"That's because she doesn't even want to say goodbye to you."

"Nonsense!"

"It's true!"

"Anyway, you still have her heart. You won, and since you're such a dear friend to me, I'll back off and I would leave Claire alone." He was about to walk away when Carter called him.

"You don't understand Tim, she loves you. When we're together, all she talks about is you and how caring you are and how you treat her nicely and how you always smile for her. Even Cliff knows that she's in love with you."

"Stop lying Carter."

"Since when did I lie?"

"Never… but I don't understand! I saw you kissing!"

"I kissed her, she didn't kiss back. The feeling wasn't mutual and she looks displeased after I did it. She went after you, like what she did the first time only to find your door locked."

"I'm confused…"

"Don't you understand what I'm telling you? She loves you so much, you just don't know how much. I was the one foolish enough to think that she loves me."

An awkward silence was in the air. Tim looked at a forlorn Carter and don't know how he would react. Should he be happy that he finally has no rivals for Claire? Or should he be sad that Carter, his one true friend, would loose the only girl he loves to him?

"You go to her Timothy Trent. I know you would make her happy…"

"Carter, are you sure?"

Carter nodded, a hesitant smile appeared on Tim's face. And he was thankful for Carter's sacrifice. Then he chuckled nervously, "you know, for a moment, I thought we might have a duel for Claire's hand."

"Stop being so immature!" Carter scolded. Tim chuckled nervously again and left the church.


	12. Chapter 12

The sun rose red that morning giving the sky a blush that would make anyone fall in love. Tim appreciated the sky as he walked to Claire's farm. He's skipping Mother's Hill today; he'd rather spend his day-offs with her.

He reached her farm and saw nobody there, except for the pony Moonbow. He stood at the farm entrance and wondered what he would do. He saw a haystack near the barn and decided to lay there. He put his arms beneath his head and stared at the lightening sky, a smile playing on his lips. He heard the house's door open and knew that Claire was going to do her chores. He decided not to interrupt her and wait.

It was around ten in the morning when he saw Claire chasing Moonbow around the farm. He wondered why she would do such a thing. "Claire!" he shouted. She looked at him and was puzzled to see him there.

"Why aren't you at Mother's Hill?" she shouted

"Because I want to be with you!"

"That's sweet of you!"

"Come here!" he shouted, patting the empty space beside him. Claire ran towards the haystack and reached there panting. "I haven't fed my cows yet," she said.

"Well, hurry!"

"Aren't you gonna help me?"

"I – "

"Please Tim?" she asked with puppy dog eyes. He sighed; how can he resist?

They entered the barn and Claire introduced all 15 cows and a sheep to Tim. "I thought you had eight."

"That was long ago," she said. "Hey, don't you love milk?"

"I love milk!"

"Here, help me with Terra. I'm gonna teach you how to milk cows."

"But don't you already have a milker?"

"Yes, I do. But it's fun milking them."

"Why?"

"Because they feel happy afterwards." Claire then sat on a stool in Terra's stable and beckoned Tim towards her. "Come, sit here and do as I do." She proceeded in milking the cows while teaching the doctor how to do it. "It's quite easy you know, you squeeze gently as you pull her udder. Don't be afraid, she'll sense your fear and then she'll be more afraid of you than you are." She stood from her stool and pushed Tim on it. She knelt behind him and gave him a hug, her chin resting on his right shoulder.

"Shouldn't I be the one who's behind you?"

"But I'm the one who's teaching you. I should be here." She guided his hands to the cow's udder and thought that it felt strange. "You can do it Tim," she said giving him a kiss on the cheek. With that kiss as inspiration, he tried giving the udders a pull and succeeded the first time. "Good boy!" she said giving him another kiss.

Tim ended up milking all of the cows and he ended up a little pissed at Claire. "Hey, you told me to take it easy, so I did!" she said with a laugh.

"Yeah, but to use me?"

"Come on Tim, it's just this one time…" she said smiling. He couldn't resist that smile. "You're such a spoiled brat," he said kissing her forehead. And as far as he knows, he probably would keep on spoiling her even after they're married.

After milking the cows, Claire and Tim returned to the haystack and they stared at the clouds together. He placed his left arm beneath his head and his right arm on her waist. She was snuggling on his right side; her head resting on his right shoulder and her right hand placed on his chest. She was searching for his heartbeat and Tim placed it there. She giggled when she felt it and he kissed her forehead because of it. Staying there together was sheer bliss.

"Look!" she suddenly exclaimed. "That cloud looks like a strawberry."

"I can't see it," he said. She took his hand and pointed it to where she's looking. He squinted a little and saw the cloud she's talking about. "Looks more like a heart," he said.

"You're right. What else are we looking for?" she asked.

"Something that looks like something," he said.

"Yeah… right…"

A few moments later, he saw a sail boat. The 'sail' part of the boat didn't look much like a sail but a sailboat is what it closely resembles. "That one looks like a hill," he said.

"They all look like hills…"

"No they don't," he said then gave her another kiss on the forehead.

"That one looks like a fairy," she pointed out.

"I don't see it," he said.

"you don't see what I see. It's there!" she exclaimed and pointed his hand to the cloud pretending to be a fairy. "So it is," he said.

"You don't believe me…"

"I do," he said, pinching her cheek. "Claire?"

"Yes?"

"What are your dreams?"

"We've already talked about this before," she said.

"I know, but this time, I'll listen to them as your lover. I will try to help you achieve some of them," he said blushing.

"I've always wanted to be a ballerina."

"I don't think I can help you with that…"

"You don't have to. Besides, I'm too old to learn how to be flexible."

"What made you want to be a ballerina?"

"When I was a kid, I saw The Red Dancing Shoes with my dad. I thought the heroine was really pretty and those shoes enchanted me. I was kinda happy that she got to do what she wanted forever but sad that she will never stop dancing. Then I saw The Twelve Dancing Princesses and I thought that the story was really enchanting. The princess got to find her one true love in the end and… well, it was all mush, but I liked it just the same."

"Then what else?"

"I dream of finding true love…" He felt hurt when she said this. "You don't have to worry though," she said. "I've already found him." She pinched his cheek and giggled.

"I dreamt of that too, and I'm happy to say that I found her," He kissed her forehead again.

"This is saccharine overdose…" she said.

"I know, don't you like it?"

"I love it!" then she giggled again. "Tim…"

"Yes?"

"I also want to have a little girl."

"I can help you with that."

She blushed different shades of red. "Tim!" she exclaimed as she slapped his face.

"Ow! Why do you always slap me when you blush?"

"Why do you always run away when you blush?"

"Ah… you got me there, Claire." He let the comment go and held her tighter instead.

"Tim, I also want to write a book."

"A book?"

"Yeah, a book. A children's book, one that I can give to my little girl when she learns how to read. She'll be the only one in the world with a book like that and I want it to be really special. It's the only thing that I would be able to leave her other than the farm… But that book would be filled with love, my love, because she probably wouldn't feel it when I…" she paused from her speech when Tim stroked her face with his fingers.

"I would tell her everyday that you love her," he said then he kissed her again.

"It's not fair! I want to tell my little girl that I love her myself!" she said as she sobbed on his shoulder. "I want to tell her stories, bake her a cake on her birthday, cookies everyday, sew her clothes… It's not fair Tim! Not fair at all!" He ran his fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm her down, but she wouldn't sober up. He hugged her tight as sang their song.

It was an old song that they heard one day as they dined at the inn. It was duke box night and Doug was playing the songs that his wife loved. Tim and Claire stared at each other as they listened to the lyrics of the song. Smiles were forming on their faces as they thought of how much the song fits their relationship.

"I love you more today than yesterday…" Tim said repeating the lyrics.

"You're cheesy Tim!"

"I know," he blushed. "But it's true! I do love you more today than yesterday!" She giggled; he always makes her do that and he likes it.

"I love you more today than yesterday too!" she said, giving him a light kiss.

"Now you're the one who's sounding cheesy," he said, returning her kiss.

It was way later in the afternoon when Claire stopped crying. They transferred from the haystack to the shade under Claire's solitary apple tree. Tim sat on the ground and leaned on the tree trunk while Claire leaned on him. He placed his arms around her waist and his chin rested on her right shoulder. He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Zack came by at exactly five to get whatever Claire shipped and was disappointed to see only eggs, mayonnaise, milk and cheese. He saw the lovers sitting under the tree and waved his hands towards them. He left the gold in Claire's basket and left, not wanting to disturb. Claire silently appreciated Zack's actions. The she focused her attention on Tim.

"You always were a good singer," she said.

"But I'm a terrible dancer."

"It doesn't matter, I love hearing your voice. You do the singing, I do the dancing." She hugged him tightly. "Thank you for taking good care of me," she said.

"I love you that's why I take care of you. Say Claire," he said.

"Yes?"

"That book you want to write, it would be for our child after all. Can I help you with that?"

"Of course! It would be more special because both of her parents' love is there. That would be great!"

"Well, what do you wanna write about?"

"When I was a kid, my dad and I would stare at clouds. And then we'd make stories out of what we saw. They usually end up as faerie tales, always with subtle hints that my dad loves me. And then he'd always give me a strawberry milkshake during the story making sessions. It was fun," she said.

"That seems nice. What happened to your dad? You don't seem to talk about him much…"

"He died."

"I'm sorry…"

"Not your fault, the sickness did it."

"What sickness?"

"It was leukemia too… he died when I was 20, and I was pretty independent then so I didn't have to worry about the hospital bills and him supporting me."

Tim shook his head. His parents are still alive and probably spend their time playing golf. "I'm sorry to hear about your dad."

"Don't be. But now you know why I want to have a family so badly. Tim, please make that dream come true…"

"I will Claire, I promise."


	13. Chapter 13

The following day, Claire visited the clinic, bringing the usual bottle of milk. She made a beeline to the doctor's desk and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Tim thought it was pretty sweet so he returned her kiss.

Claire sat across his desk and smiled.

"Strawberries are not in season and I know you don't like sweets that much," she said. "But I have something for you. I heard from Elli that you make your own, so I decided to give you one that I made." She brought two bottles of fruit juice and shyly handed one to the doctor. He smiled at her and thanked her. He pulled out a new looking notebook from his desk and showed her the blank pages. "Let's begin," he said.

"What did we see yesterday?" she asked.

"A faerie, a hill, a sailboat and a strawberry."

"So the faerie is our heroine then," she said.

"If that's what you want…"

"Of course! She's the only one that has a mind in those things we saw."

"Of course… Then what?"

"You haven't tried this before have you?"

"No. Your dad was a good father to have thought of this activity."

"We're gonna piece together what we saw."

"How?"

"Think about it: a story always have a hero, a setting and a theme. We already have a hero and a setting."

"We do?"

"yes! The hill!"

"You're right." He scribbled down what she said. "Hero – faerie, setting – hill… do we have to give the hero a name?"

"Hm… not necessarily."

"Right, no names. How does the other two fit in?"

"I dunno, maybe we can load that sailboat with strawberries."

"What would a faerie do with a ship full of strawberries?" he asked.

"I dunno. That doesn't sound so reasonable right?"

"No it doesn't… Hey, we can fill that hill with strawberries!"

"Yeah, a strawberry garden on top of a hill."

"that's good, that's good…" he said. "Can we add other elements to the story other than the sailboat?"

"We can add a river, and a sailor, and just about anything…"

"Hm, good idea."

They made a story about the cloud formations and decided that that would be the book Claire should write about to be given to their little girl when she learns how to read. After hours of debating, they ended up with this story:

There once lived a lonely fairy on top of a hill near a river. She has a garden full of strawberries and birds visit her everyday. She had nobody to talk to other than the animals and talking to them can sometimes be boring. They only talk about worms and flying, but she's not interested in worms, and she would rather fly than talk about flying. She had a lot of strawberries to eat too, but she can't eat them all and it was no fun to eat alone. She would ask the birds to eat them with her but they refused, preferring corn over the sweet fruit.

One day a little blue bird told her that a boat was seen sailing at the river manned by only one sailor. The fairy thought that the person sailing the boat might be hungry and lonely because he was alone in his travels. She then took all of the strawberries with her and flew to the river. She stood by the sandy riverbank and waited for the boat to come. When it did come, she saw that the sailor is remarkably handsome and she fell in love with him at the spot. The sailor saw the fairy at the banks and thought that she looked astonishing.

He docked the boat at the riverbank and went to the fairy's side. The fairy told him that she was very lonely because she was all alone and she had no friends except for the birds. She asked the sailor to be her friend and he accepted saying that he would be glad to be friends with such a beautiful faerie.

To celebrate their newfound friendship, they had a picnic on the riverbank. The fairy said that she would still be alone when the sailor sets sail again and she started to cry. The sailor told the fairy that if she wanted to, he could stay by her side and be his friend forever. The fairy was delighted by this idea and asked the sailor to stay and be her friend forever. He agreed and they both were happy. In due time, the sailor built a house on the hill where the fairy lived and he asked her to marry him. She accepted his offer and married him the week after. They then had a little girl that they loved so much and the three of them lived happily together.

But one day, other faeries came and visited the newly married faerie. They said that faeries her time with the humans is over and she needs to go back to faerieland. The sailor was sad to know that his wife had to leave but his wife calmed him down. She said that he doesn't need to be sad because he will not be alone, he has their little girl to make him happy and remind him of his faerie wife. She also said that she will always love the sailor and their daughter and the strawberries are the proof of that love. She then disappeared without a trace leaving the poor sailor and his daughter alone. But he was not sad because he knows that his wife still loves him even if she's gone and as she said, the strawberries are the proof of her love. And he believes it's true because up the hill never ran out of strawberries and they kept on growing even in winter.

"It doesn't sound like something a child would appreciate," Claire said.

"I guess not, well, let's just make other stories instead."

They tried coming up with other stories but their options were exhausted. It was also getting late so Claire had to go, bringing the notebook with her.

That night, she sat on her dining table and pulled out pieces of paper. She drew the faerie, the hill, the sailboat and the strawberries and colored them in watercolor. When she finished drawing, she kept what she drew and decided to ask Mary to publish her story tomorrow. Claire slept with a smile on her face that night.


	14. Chapter 14

Tim and Claire married on the third week of Fall. Most of the townspeople were in attendance because Mayor Thomas claimed that it's been years since the last couple was married. Basil and Anna giggled at this, they were that last couple. Noticeably missing was Elli, who claimed that she has some business in Forget-Me-Not Valley.

May was their flower girl and she's smiling widely as she littered the church carpet with Blue Magic Grass petals. Mary took care of the organ playing while Karen sang their wedding songs. Naturally, Carter presided over the wedding and he sounded tired while he was doing it

Tim and Claire were all smiles during the celebration and everybody was saying that he would take perfect care of her and she was what he needed to spice up his life.

A few months later they found out she was pregnant. The couple couldn't be happier so the night of the declaration, Tim went to the Inn and bought everybody drinks. Claire was busy at home knitting baby clothes and humming to her unborn baby. All was going smoothly in the couple's life until one day Claire fainted again.

When she was brought to the clinic, the doctor observed that she showed more signs of leukemia's symptoms and this left doctor distraught. He was wondering what would happen to his unborn child.

Leukemia certainly wasn't like aids that the mother would automatically pass it on to her child. Chances are that his genes are stronger and that his unborn child might have no trace of it at all. He cursed himself. _Why didn't Claire want her cancer to be treated quickly anyway? _He wondered.

It was too late for that now seeing as she is pregnant and the chemotherapy radiation will definitely kill their baby. Abortion was out of the question, they would have the child no matter what. But he is concerned with her fragile state, if leukemia will not kill her, childbirth will.

"I have to think, I'm a doctor..."

She woke up in the clinic and asked for him. Elli called out to the doctor and he immediately went to Claire's side.

"What is it beloved?"

"Tim, I want you to name her Jillian."

"Claire, don't talk as if you're leaving me alone. I need you Claire, pull yourself together."

She held out her hand and he clasped it in his. She looked at him for a while and went back to sleep. Tim ordered Elli to get the armchair and the side table from the lobby and place it in the confinement room. He's getting prepared for another vigil on his beloved wife's side.

A few months later, Claire went into labor. Tim was pacing back and forth in the kitchen, feeling very nervous. He absolutely hated the idea that Elli and not he would deliver their baby. He was talking to himself, partly to appease his beating heart. "I wanted to deliver our baby, but she said I might get too emotional." He muttered an inaudible cuss.

"Alright Claire, stay with me!" he heard Elli say. He stopped his pacing and looked at the scene. Claire was writhing in pain, clutching the sheets and panting really hard. She let out a primal scream that set the doctor to running to his dear wife's side. Elli stopped him when he was five meters away from the bed.

"She told you to wait. Go back to the kitchen," Elli scolded. Tim looked at his wife's sweaty face and concern overcame him. She tried to give him a smile but failed in doing so when she felt more spasms. She cried instead.

"Go back!" Elli shouted. The doctor returned to the kitchen and waited for the results. He tried to drown Claire's screams and Elli's voice as she screamed 'push'. The whole event was driving him crazy.

What would happen to his wife? Would his baby be physically or mentally disabled? Her liver was enlarged after all… He heard somewhere that women who underwent chemotherapy will never have babies, but she never took the procedure so this is an anomaly. But he doesn't want to think of that. He couldn't think of the child as an anomaly. He should stop thinking; insane thoughts would kill him.

Then he heard a crying scream.

The ordeal is finally over, hooray… the baby's cries filled him with dread and the louder he heard the cry the more did he suppress the lump building in his throat.

He went to the bedroom and winced when his nightmares came to life. He saw Elli carrying the crying baby with tears in her eyes and staring at Claire's lifeless body. He walked slowly to the bed, knelt at the side and cradled his dead wife in his arms. He kissed her forehead and closed her still open eyes. He knows that in a few minutes it would open again but he didn't mind.

"Doctor, it's a girl…" Elli said.

"I know Elli, she told me so." He kissed Claire's corpse again and closed his eyes. "Claire," he said. "Jillian looks beautiful."


	15. Epilogue

Tim had to be strong for Jill as she is Claire's legacy and his only child. Jill looked so much like him but only with Claire's blue eyes. He thanked the goddess after Jill was born because she seemed like she's a healthy girl. He prayed so hard that she didn't have the cancer genes that her mother had. One rainy Wednesday at the church, he remembered Claire's words to him when they first met.

"_... she died giving birth to me."_

"_oh… I'm sorry. "_

"_Not your fault," she said. "It was the midwife's."_

How strange that she foreshadowed her own death. How ironic that she would die of a simple case such as childbirth and not because of the bigger disease. He remembered what he also said to Claire, that life is cruel. It certainly is, but he'll try to make the most out of it.

Jill, now six, is starting to be demanding. Since she already has a horse and a puppy she, was content in the pet-ownership department. But the girl wanted ballet lessons. Karen only knew certain kinds of dances and ballet was not one of them. So in order for his little girl to learn ballet, he takes her to the city once a week. It's good that she has something to be passionate about.

The townspeople fawned over her because she is such a pretty little girl and perhaps because they pity her for growing up without a mother. Ann was the child's best friend as she would always tell Jill that they have one thing in common, their mothers are both angels. This would make the child giggle as she imagined what kind of angel her mother looks like. Sometimes she wonder, that if her mother is an angel, then she should have wings too. She has her mother's eyes after all. "Because I'm your father," he tells her. "And you don't see wings on my back. You got it from me."

When it's raining, Tim would sit on a rocking chair by the window overlooking the plot of land where Claire used to grow fruits and vegetables. He wished he could grow strawberries too, as proof of his love for her, but plants seem to hate him.

Whenever Jill sees her father sitting on that rocking chair and looking lonely, she would climb onto his lap and read him the book he and Claire wrote six years ago. Tim would always try to hide a tear whenever Jill finishes the story, but he utterly fails to do so. Jill would always say, "It's ok daddy. You've got me. Mommy said that when you're sad I should always sing you a song." She would hum Tim and Claire's song as she still doesn't know the lyrics and he would wonder how Jill learned the melody of that song. Either way, he always feels better after hearing his daughter sing it. Sometimes, he would sing with her, sometimes he would hum, sometimes he just listens, but it always feel special when they sing it together.

Whenever it's Ann's day-off, she would visit Tim and Jill at 7:30 PM. She always bring a plate of cookies, much to the disappointment of the doctor. "Junk food again, Ann?" he asked.

"You can't raise a kid without her knowing about cookies!" she scolds and he would leave her alone.

Ann would tell Jill stories about how nice Claire was and how she smiled for everyone and was the prettiest girl in Mineral Town next only to Jill. Whenever Jill falls asleep, Ann would always ask the doctor when he will marry again. He would always shake his head and say the same speech over and over again. "She believes her mom is an angel, if I give her something less than that, her heart will be shattered."

"I still think it's better for Jill to have a stepmother. Say, why don't you marry Elli?"

Tim cringes every time he sees, hears or hear about Elli. "Not Elli. I can't imagine me and her as a couple let alone husband and wife. Elli was the last one to see Claire alive…"

Ann bowed her head. "I'm sorry Tim, I was stupid…"

"I know you didn't mean it. You're just concerned for Jill."

And as if on cue, Cliff would always appear at eight to fetch Ann from her baby-sitting job. They wave their goodbyes and leave the doctor alone with his thoughts. He envies Cliff and Ann, though they're childless, they still have each other.

Tim noticed that the farm becomes rundown everyday, and frankly, the harvest sprites are tired of working on an unproductive land. One day, they just stopped working on the farm despite of the flour the doctor gives them. He has no idea how to run a farm so he sold all of Claire's animals, but kept the dog Sehanine and the horse Moonbow. He moved back to the clinic taking Jill with him and he sold the farm. Two years later, the farm was bought by a young man who, like Claire, was tricked into buying the rundown farm. And just like Claire, he gave the farm another shot and turned it into a good farm. The doctor heard from Manna that the young man is Claire's brother Jack, but frankly, he didn't care.

Apparently, Manna's rumors aren't always right. This Jack wasn't related to Claire. He's not even a distant cousin. One day he went to the clinic to have his hand stitched because of a sickle wound but he met Elli instead. Somehow, the two hit it off, got married in a year and Elli finally moved out of the clinic. Jill now occupies Elli's old room and Elli was nice enough to leave her stuffed animals there for Jill's enjoyment.

Carter is fond of Jill. Jill is fond of him too and whenever she has "daddy problems" she runs to Carter and wouldn't stop bawling. Carter chuckles to himself whenever Jill does this; she reminds him so much of Claire.

Tim and Carter's friendship healed in time. Past grievances about Claire were forgotten and she was talked of fondly whenever Carter and Doc are together. They would go on hours upon hours discussing what they loved about her and Jill would listen to them intently wishing she knew what her mother was really like.

Years later, Carter and Jill, she now a young woman and he 78, stood in front of Tim and Claire's graves. Carter curses himself for outliving the doctor when he is way older than Tim. Jill says, that's the way of life and tries to console the old man. Jack and Elli left for greener pastures and the farm was looking rundown again. Jill doesn't have any idea what to do with her life since her father spoiled her so much and she is too dependent. Carter knows this, and it has to be corrected. He tells her that her mother was a very good farmer. Why not try being independent for once and try her hand at farming? Jill nods with fiery determination in her eyes.


End file.
